


Out of the Deck

by starberby



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Ace Christine deserves to be morethan a plot device for boyf riemds, Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Asexuality, Coming Out, F/M, Friendship, oblivious heterosexual jeremy heere, play practice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 15:43:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14060160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starberby/pseuds/starberby
Summary: Christine doesn’t know how to tell Jeremy, so her friends try giving her advice.





	Out of the Deck

**Author's Note:**

> My second ever fic. Hope you enjoy!

“If it’s any consolation, Jeremy Heere is the most oblivious heterosexual in the world,” Michael says, inhaling on his slushie straw with all the strength of a chain smoker taking their first drag. “I mean, I tried coming out to him, like, five times. First I was making comments about how hot certain dudes were, then just blurting out that I’d literally marry insert-male-actor-here. I even hid in his broom closet during a sleepover so I could jump out at him and yell, ‘Symbolism!’ His dad was the one walking by, I almost gave him a heart attack. It wasn’t until three weeks after I got my pride patch that Jeremy noticed, and he asked me *why i was wearing it if I was straight*. I swear, I stared him down for five seconds before he got the hint. 

“Really, what I’m saying is, you’re going to have to come right out and say it—no pun intended. Even then he might not get it, so adding a few diagrams to the explanation couldn’t hurt.”

Christine sighs. The two of them are sitting together on the hallway floor, watching select herds of students round the hallways during lunch break. Normally they’d be hanging out at the cafeteria table all their friends share, but right now Christine needs boyfriend advice, and nobody knows Jeremy better than his player 1. However, Micheal’s nonchalance isn’t helping today. 

“What if he hates me?”she asks.

“He won’t hate you.”

“What if he wants to break up?”

“He won’t want to break up.”

“How do you *know*?”

Micheal takes another slushie inhale and shrugs. “You’re Christine Canigula. There’s no way Jeremy couldn’t love you. And besides, after being his friend for as long as I have, you get very used to the tone of useless worrying, and I can tell that’s your tone, right now.”

“Should I really tell him?”

“Better out than in.”

“Don’t quote Shrek at me.”

Micheal grins. “I can’t make that promise.”

“Goodbye, Micheal.” 

Christine pushes to her feet and follows the flow of hallway traffic. Eventually she winds up in front of Chloe’s locker, and as usual, the girl is there with Brooke and Jenna by her side. 

“Hi Christine! Did you tell Jeremy yet?” Jenna asks right away, pulling Christine out of the current. Christine knows it’s out of friendly curiosity, but also to finally get the green light to update the internet on how JeremyxChristine is doing.

“I tried to before first period,” she admits, rubbing her arm, “but I don’t think he got it.” 

Chloe scoffs. “Of course not! Rule number one with boys is to always be blunt. Unless it’s about sex, they never pick up anything unless you hand it right to them.” Chloe taps Christine on the shoulder before turning back to her locker, fixing her makeup in the tiny magnetic mirror. 

“And Jeremy’s like, really oblivious,” Brooke pipes up. “He didn’t even know when Eminem died.”

“Micheal told me the same thing, in his own way.” Christine inhales. “I’ll talk to Jeremy at play rehearsal. I’ll tell him outright. It will be okay.”

“Definitely!” The other girls chorus. Then the bell for class rings. They part ways and Christine heads to class, which just happens to put her on the same path as one Rich Goranski. 

“Chrissy C!,” he calls out, and she dodges through a few people to get to him. He claps her on the back. “The hallways are a jungle. Us short-stacks have to still together. And,” he wiggles his eyebrows, “I heard you were having an interesting conversation with Jeremy earlier today. He has no idea what you were talking about it, but from what he told me, I get the subtext.” His smile grows wider. “Are you trying to bone your boy, finally?”

“No! That’s not what I’m trying to say at all.” Christine throws her hands up. “Rich . . . I’m ace.”

Rich’s eyes widen, and for a second he has no comeback. “Woah, seriously? Man, we are so close to covering all of our queer bases! Micheal’s gay, I’m bi and Rich is poly, Chloe and Brooke are pan. . . with you, we’re only a few shy of the whole set!” 

Christine snorts. “Let’s hope Jeremy takes it that well.”

“Yeah. Hey, if you can, convince him to join the club! All that stuff that’s said about recruiting queer people has to come from somewhere, right? We can fill up the missing spots.”

She shakes her head. “I have to get to class, Rich.”

“Think about it!” He shouts before the crowd separates him. And although she’s entertained for a little while, it isn’t long until the worry sets back in.  
\---  
“Hey,” Jeremy says, sitting down next to her on the bench and giving a peck to her forehead. “I got your text. Is everything okay?” 

Christine nods. “It’s going good. I mean, you know me. I love play rehearsal!” She gives him a cheesy thumbs up, but his mouth bends into a squiggly Charlie-Brown frown. 

“I know you’ve been trying to tell me something, and I’m sorry that I don’t understand yet, but I promise it’s nothing to worry about. Just, try to say it again, okay?”

Christine stares up at her boyfriend. He’s normally the anxious one, the one who needs his sweaty hands held and for encouragement to be whispered in his ears. She feels like she’s letting him down a little, switching the roles up on him. She looks down at her hands, fidgeting with the buttons on her cardigan. 

“Well, you know that there are some ways I’m a bit different from others. I don’t always relate to other people my age, except when I’m on the stage. In real life, there are changes I’m going through . . . god, why am I telling this to you?” She feels tears prick the sides of her eyes. She isn’t scared, just . . . she’s been imagining this for a long time. How he could respond. “I guess a part of me needs to.” 

Jeremy scoots closer, wrapping a lanky arm around her. “Christi-i-ine,” he croons, and she loves when he says her name, the way he sings it out like it’s so beautiful, like she is so beautiful, and she looks in his eyes and he says, “Just say what you’re thinking.”

“. . . Gaaaaa-uh!” She sticks her tongue out and crosses her eyes. He responds by tilting his head back and emitting a high-pitched whine. They attract some stares from other theatre kids, including Jake. “Cool vocal warmups, dudes,” he calls out. Jeremy gives him a thumbs up before turning back to Christine. He’s smiling but his eyes are worried. She can’t keep him waiting any longer. 

“I’m asexual,” she blurts, and gets ready for some kind of anxious, stuttering, unhappy Jeremy reaction. A rejection. Of course he could never be okay with this, of course he’ll want to end it. What was she thinking?

Her boyfriend stares at her. “Okay.”

Christine leans away. “Okay? Jeremy, do you know what that means?”

“Oh, yeah. Micheal has me informed on all the labels. You don’t feel sexual attraction.”

“Yes! And I’m never going to, and you can’t change that, and I’m not going to have sex with you for any reason. Not to try it out, not to be sure I’m right, not to make you happy. I couldn’t.”

“Okay.”

“But,” she runs a hand up through her hair, trying to understand. “But how?” Jeremy snorts, but she can’t let go of this. “You’re a teenage boy. As a requirement, sex has to be something you’re pretty into. How can this be okay?”

Jeremy laces their hands together, rests his chin on the top of her head, and holds her tight. “Pre-squip, I thought I was going to be one of those guys who was a virgin until he dies. I thought that meant I’d be alone forever. But now that the Squip is gone, I’m learning that what I thought mattered isn’t what I care about now, or what makes me happy today. So, okay, you’re asexual. Ace, right? And that’s cool. And you’re cool. And nothing’s going to change that. I’m happy as long as you are.”

“Rehearsal is starting, everyone!” Mr. Reyes bursts into the room, voice at top volume, pocket in hand at top hotness. “Places, places.”

Christine and Jeremy untangle. “I love you,” he says to her before they part, just like he’s told her time and time before  
“I love you too,” she answers, as truthfully as always. 

She should have known everything would be okay. If they can end up together after a supercomputer tried to enslave the school, then their relationship is definitely stable. Still, as the weeks progress, she’s filled up with glee now every time someone in the cafeteria makes an ace pun and Jeremy wraps a loving arm around her, or Student Council hosts a pride day and the two of them enter the school with Micheal-made shirts reading “Ace, Ace baby” and “designated heterosexual friend” and holding hands. Christine is head-over-heels, as ace as a deck of cards, and Jeremy wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
